Boris Johnson has said it was wrong to link yesterday's murder of a soldier in Woolwich with British foreign policy or the actions of Britain's armed forces overseas.

"The fault lies wholly and exclusively in the warped and deluded mindset of the people who did it," he said. "What we need to do now, for the sake of the victim and the sake of his family, is for these killers to be brought to justice."

Arriving at the government's emergency Cobra meeting in Whitehall this morning, Johnson paid tribute to the people of Woolwich for showing "such exemplary courage".

"People should take their cue from the behaviour of people of Woolwich who showed such natural courage and stood up to those killers. That's the spirit of London."

The mayor urged London's citizens to "go about their lives in the normal way".

When asked by members of the public what his motive was, one of the attackers said: "He's a British soldier. He killed people. He killed Muslim people in Muslim countries."

Relatives of the dead soldier are believed to have been informed though he has yet to be named.

Woolwich and Greenwich MP Nick Raynsford today praised the "extraordinary" bravery of members of the public who approached the killers.

The two men are currently in separate London hospitals being treated for injuries after they were shot by police at the scene.